kr~ ^-^ DRY-FLY FISHING. D. Moul, de. FRONTISPIECE. THE HALFORD DRY-FLY SERIES VOLUME I. DRY-FLY FISHING IN THEORY AND PRACTICE FREDERIC M. HALFORD ("DETACHED BADGER " OF " THE FIELD") author of '' " floating flies and how to dress them "making a fishery" AND " DRY-FLY ENTOMOLOGY " IN MEMORIAM George Selwyn Marryat FOURTH EDITION REVISED LONDON VINTON & CO. LIMITED 9 New Bridge Street, Ludgate Circus, E.C. 1902 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DEDICATION OF FIRST EDITION. TO GEORGE SELWYN MARRYAT. In the last chapter of "Floating Flies and How to Dress Them," entitled " Hints to Dry-Fly Fishermen" the produc- tion of this ivork is foreshadowed. If these pages meet with the approval of our brother anglers ; if they contain anything that is likely to be useful, anything that is new, anything that is instructive, or anything that is to make dry-fly fishing a more charming or more engrossing pursuit than it now is, the novelty, the instruction, and the charm are due to the innumerable hints you have been good enough to convey to me at different times during the many days of many years ivhich we have spent together on the hanks of the Test. As a faint acknowledgment of all these obligations, and as a mark of high esteem and deep affection, this humble effort to perpetuate your teachings is dedicated to yon by Your grateful Pupil, FREDERIC M. HALFORD. November, 1888. PREFACE TO THE THIRD (REVISED) EDITION. In Memoriam George Selwyn Marryat. On the 14th of February, 1896, George Selwyn Marryat died at The Close, SaHsbury, aged 56. To his many friends and acquaint- ances, even to those who had only heard of his skill as a fisherman and his conspicuous un- selfishness on the river bank, such an an- nouncement was a source of the deepest regret not unmingled with astonishment that one so young in his ways, so active, strong and vigorous, should have been thus rapidly and suddenly struck down. For fifteen consecu- tive years we had spent a great proportion of the fishing season together, and scarcely a day passed without my acquiring some knowledge, or learnino- somethino; new from him. Durino- the close seasons we were frequently staying at one another's houses, and when apart were in daily correspondence on some point con- nected with the sport, the life history of the insects on which the fish feed, and the best methods of imitating them. Hence it may not be deemed an exaggeration for me to say that PREFACE his untimely decease was as severe a shock as if I had lost one of my dearest and nearest relations. " Red Spinner," in an obituary notice in the Field of February 22nd, 1896, showed such appreciation of his character and conveyed these impressions in such feeling terms that I am — tempted to quote two paragraphs : " Naturally, with his fame and popularity, he had the run of the choicest streams, but he seldom cared to fill his basket, and I never met an enthusiastic angler — as he was— who so much denied himself the pleasure of fishing at the waterside. But a fish rising in an apparently impossible position would always tempt him, and I have seen him, when an angler had tried his best at a rising fish, and given it over in despair, quietly wait until the said angler had moved out of sight, and then address himself to the rising trout until he had it in the landing net. Wherever Marryat had been fishing, you would always meet someone —keeper, or proprietor, or visiting angler—who before he had been conversing with you for ten minutes about fishing would introduce the name of Marryat as a model for imitation. The days with him by the river were always pleasant and always instructive. If he saw that you really appreciated the knowledge he had obtained, he would take endless trouble to impart it. To the man, however, who PREFACE fancied himself above everybody else, and who was far above accepting a hint from any living- creature, the master was silent, interposing, maybe, a humorous remark sometimes that ought to have made the self-conceited listener feel very small.'' "The evenings after the fishing, when dinner being over and the tobacco burning, the dis- cussions turned upon not fishing alone, but a variety of subjects, were, if possible, more delightful than the days, for in the course of a busy and, in the early days, adventurous life, Marryat had picked up an astounding mass of information on all manner of topics. Natural history, even abstruser questions of science, he had attacked with the thoroughness which characterised all he did, and there are four or five men still living who probably will never foro-eto a oorreat nicrhto at the dear old mill at Houghton, when we led Marryat on to a series of speeches and contentions upon what he called the ' teleology of the infinite.' A more agreeable companion, in short, there never was than George Selwyn Marryat, and it was during those Houghton days that Mr. Halford was introduced to him by Francis F"rancis. This was about the time when Marryat, who was as full of spirits and harmless jokes as a boy, seized the opportunity of Francis being late at breakfast to place empty egg shells, with the unbroken ends PREFACE Upwards, before Francis's plate. Loud was the explosion of laughter when the latter dis covered the little trick that had been played upon him. He knew at once who was the author, and with a ' what a confounded child ! you are, Marryat ' joined in the merriment." Naturally gifted with a keen sight developed by continual use, possessed of marvellous powers of perception and the faculty of bring- ing these powers to bear rapidly on any subject, it was not surprising that he should have been full of resource and able without a moment's hesitation to decide how a fish rising in an awkward position should be attacked. At a glance he could see the point from which the cast should be made, and the precise spot where his fly should land to avoid drag. His knowledge of the life history of all common and rare insects, whether bred in the waters or on the land, whether in the larval, pupal, sub-imago, or imago stages, was so great as to render him certain of the class of artificial likely to tempt the fish. His tall, lithe, active figure, a mass of muscle and sinew, enabled him to keep his fly working backwards and forwards in the air. Grasping his rod with a grip like a vice, he put forth all his skill in casting, so as— to use his own ex- pression— to "combine delicacy and accuracy in the first chuck." Ready at any time to impart knowledge to a true sportsman, or to find PREFACE Xlll. a feeding fish for him, he sacrificed his own chance of sport to crouch at his side, applaud a good attempt, and correct if necessary the faults of an indifierent one, rejoicing- more than the tyro himself to see his efforts crowned with success. Full of trite sayings, and brimming over with exuberant spirits like a child, it was "mens sana in corpore sano." Such was the man to whom the first edition of this book was dedicated, and in whose memory this revised one is offered to the angling public. The probability of a new edition of " Dry- Fly Fishing" being published was often dis- cussed between us, and the late Mr. Marryat impressed upon me most strenuously the desir- ability of making copious notes of errors re- quiring correction, or amendments tending to keep the general matter thoroughly up to date. This advice was followed, and as lately as January, 1895, he carefully read all my notes with the book and sent me a list of a few points which he thought might advantageously be added to them. His words enclosing them were:— "I enclose notes of revise for 'Dry- Fly Fishing.' I don't think there is any thing- else, and I have read it all over again care- fully." After his death, and when the production of this edition was decided, I consulted two of the best dry-fly fishermen of the day, Mr. N. PREFACE Lloyd and Mr. W'. H. Pope. These good friends each undertook the arduous task of reading through the book and making full notes of any points on which they could suggest improvements on the text of the older editions. My warmest thanks are due to both of them, not only for the time they have devoted to this labour of love, but also for the valuable hints which I have not failed to incorporate in the present work, A comparison of this with the original edition will show that, althouoh the alterations in the general scheme have been few, the revision of minor points and matters of detail has been most comprehensive. After all, success or non- success in dry-fly fishing is greatly dependent on matters of detail, and my chief aim and object have been to give the modern angler the benefit of any experience acquired during the last ten years so as to bring this edition thoroughly up to date. Thus any real improvements in the manu- facture of rods and tackle have been exhaus- tively treated, including the Lloyd ferrule as well as the valuable and practical suggestions of Mr. Hawksley in reference to testing rods. The chapters respectively on How, Where and When to Cast, Studies of Fish Feeding, Cir- cumstances affecting Sp07't and Evening Fishing have been carefully and thoroughly revised.